Garmin today announced an update for its GTN touchscreen avionics to further empower pilots with easy access to important data. The company will be adding wireless connectivity between select Garmin avionics and its Pilot app on iOS and Android hardware. When everything is set up and ready to go, its solutions will be able to share weather, traffic, GPS information, SiriusXM Aviation weather and SiriusXM satellite radio with mobile devices operating Garmin Pilot. Garmin is essentially transforming mobile devices into cockpit data hubs.

Carl Wolf, Garmin's vice president of aviation marketing and sales, added the following to the press release:

"The same smart device you use in your everyday life is now the wireless gateway into your avionics. Not only does a wealth of flight-critical information wirelessly arrive on your smart device to help you make better decisions faster, but you can also perform simple and rapid data entry – like flight planning and loading airways - on your smart device and beam it right into your installed avionics. Flight Stream is our latest example of the Garmin Team relentlessly pursuing technologies that make flying safer, more efficient and more enjoyable."

It's a cool use of technology, utilizing hardware already in the hands of pilots to connect to avionics and output some useful interfaces. Should you already rely on Garmin Pilot, today's announcement should be viewed as a positive step forward in further pushing technology to make flying both more enjoyable and efficient.

"The same smart device you use in your everyday life is now the wireless gateway into your avionics," said Carl Wolf, Garmin's vice president of aviation marketing and sales. "Not only does a wealth of flight-critical information wirelessly arrive on your smart device to help you make better decisions faster, but you can also perform simple and rapid data entry – like flight planning and loading airways - on your smart device and beam it right into your installed avionics. Flight Stream is our latest example of the Garmin Team relentlessly pursuing technologies that make flying safer, more efficient and more enjoyable."

Flight Stream Connectivity

Flight Stream 110/210 is a small, Bluetooth® wireless gateway, which is easily installed with Garmin avionics, enabling communication between avionics and up to four compatible mobile devices running Garmin Pilot. The Flight Stream 110 is designed to be paired with a GDL 88 and/or GDL 69/69A to provide the benefits of these products without the need for a compatible avionics display. The Flight Stream 210 adds connectivity with the GTN™ and GNS WAAS series navigators, as well as back-up attitude information for display within Garmin Pilot. The Flight Stream 210 contains an internal attitude sensor, however if a G500/G600 flight display is installed in the aircraft, its high-integrity attitude source can take priority for display within Garmin Pilot, with a future software update.

Two-Way Flight Plan Transfer

Flight planning is transformed with the Flight Stream 210, enabling wireless flight plan transfer capabilities between Garmin Pilot and corresponding GTN 750/650 and GNS 430W/530W navigators. G3X™ Touch has the Connext Bluetooth wireless gateway built-in, providing flight plan transfer capabilities. The flight plan transfer occurs with a couple of taps when the avionics are powered on. With Connext, pilots have the added convenience of completing flight plans prior to arriving at the airport, allowing more time to focus on pre-flight activities.

Last-minute flight plan amendments prior to departure are simple. Pilots can take advantage of ATC Proposed Routes within Garmin Pilot. Proposed Routes are enabled by aircraft tail number so that modifications made by air traffic control to a filed flight plan are received by Garmin Pilot. Once they are received, Garmin Pilot gives pilots the option to easily transfer the modified flight plan to a GTN or GNS WAAS navigator. Conversely, active flight plans that are manually amended while in-flight may automatically be sent from the avionics to Garmin Pilot so flight plans are identical and amendments only need to be made on one device. To help prevent unintended flight plan transfers from becoming active by others in the aircraft, pilots are required to acknowledge and accept all incoming requests before they become active in the navigator.

Knob turning is dramatically reduced when incorporating the Flight Stream 210 for flight planning with a GNS WAAS navigator, which provides wireless flight plan transfer. Customers may also incorporate Victor airway navigation into flight plans using the Flight Stream 210 and Garmin Pilot. With a few simple taps within Garmin Pilot, routes, waypoints and airway intersections are quickly transferred to a 430W/530W navigator.

The G3X Touch system for experimental amateur-built and light sport aircraft comes equipped and ready to take advantage of Connext. Pilots are offered the convenience of flight planning on a tablet and the simplicity of wirelessly transferring flight plans via Bluetooth to the G3X Touch system. A G3X Touch system with a GDL 39R shares GPS, attitude, traffic and weather data with a mobile device for display using Garmin Pilot.

Stream Weather, Traffic and More

The benefits of ADS-B go further with the Flight Stream 110/210. With the GDL 88 ADS-B datalink and Flight Stream, ADS-B traffic and weather is wirelessly transferred and displayed within Garmin Pilot. ADS-B traffic information may be viewed on the moving map page and dedicated traffic pages in Garmin Pilot. Weather products from the GDL 88 may simultaneously be overlaid on the map page, offering pilots additional redundancy. Expanded functionality of the GDL 69 SiriusXM datalink receiver is available when incorporating a Flight Stream wireless gateway, which displays SiriusXM Aviation weather on a tablet operating Garmin Pilot. Remote control of SiriusXM satellite radio is also available within Garmin Pilot for customers with a GDL 69A and Flight Stream 110/210. Pilots and passengers have access to channel selections, volume controls, as well as the option to save favorite audio channels for convenient access. Adding to the wireless versatility of the Flight Stream 110/210, GPS location information from the GTN or GNS WAAS navigators or GDL 88 with an internal WAAS receiver can be shared to display precise position information in Garmin Pilot.

Portable Connectivity

Connext encompasses a suite of capabilities, which have been built into our portable product line and provide customers with more flexibility and information in the cockpit. Garmin Pilot supports connectivity with VIRB™, Garmin's HD action camera so pilots can view video, control recording options and take photos while simultaneously viewing flight plan information. Also, remote control capability of VIRB is available from the touchscreen of G3X Touch. When integrating VIRB with G3X Touch, pilots can start and stop video and take photos from the display so capturing the perfect moment in-flight is simple.

Pilots can use the D2™ Pilot Watch as a secondary navigation aid, which can also receive flight plan information from Garmin Pilot. Additionally, D2 can remotely control VIRB so pilots can start and stop video, view elapsed time for active video recording and capture high quality still photos – even when video recording is active. Further integration of the GDL 39 3D with both Garmin Pilot and the aera® 796/795, offers pilots additional connectivity including the display of ADS-B traffic and weather and back-up aircraft attitude information.

Global Datalink Capability

In addition to the Flight Stream 110/210, customers can take advantage of existing Connext services with Garmin's Iridium-based datalink, the GSR 56. Featuring worldwide weather capability, pilots have access to METARs, TAFs and winds aloft around the globe. Additionally, radar and satellite imagery for Western Europe, Canada, Australia and the U.S. provide pilots with even more weather products so it's easy to determine if precipitation or cloud cover will impact a particular flight. The GSR 56 also provides voice, text messaging and position reporting services (subscription required), giving pilots the voice and data connectivity they need in the cockpit.

Customers may take advantage of the new Flight Stream features, which are enabled by the simple installation of Flight Stream 110/210. To take advantage of SiriusXM Aviation weather and/or SiriusXM satellite radio, customers require the Flight Stream 110/210 gateway, a subscription to Garmin Pilot, a GDL 69/69A SiriusXM datalink receiver and a SiriusXM subscription. Passengers can control audio derived from the GDL 69A SiriusXM datalink receiver with Garmin Pilot on a subscription-free basis. Customers can stream ADS-B traffic and weather using Flight Stream 110/210, a GDL 88 ADS-B datalink with the latest software and a subscription to Garmin Pilot. Customers may take advantage of wireless flight plan transfer capabilities using Flight Stream 210, a GTN and/or GNS WAAS navigator with the latest software and a subscription to Garmin Pilot on iOS or select Android mobile devices.

Flight Stream 210 is compatible with the GDL 88, GDL 69/69A and GTN 750/650 and is expected to be available in August for a list price of $999. Compatibility with the GNS 430W/530W is expected to be available in September. Flight Stream 110 compatibility with the GDL 88 and GDL 69/69A is expected to be available in August for a list price of $549. Connext capability with G3X Touch is expected with a free software update in Q4 2014. For additional information, visit: http://www.garmin.com/connext.

Garmin's aviation business segment is a leading provider of solutions to OEM, aftermarket, military and government customers. Garmin's portfolio includes navigation, communication, control, hazard avoidance, surveillance, and other products and services that are known for innovation, reliability, and value. For more information about Garmin's full line of avionics, go to http://www.garmin.com/aviation, www.garmin.blogs.com and http://twitter.com/garmin.